orcibly that had he but a week or two before him he might, in spite of
the old prophet's precaution, get up a very pretty little insurrection
against the mystic Holy Three.

He did go so far as to say that if the Mormons were men they had only
one course open to them, and that was to dethrone the wretched impostor
who was now at their head, and re-instate their beautiful queen, the
"Rose of Sharon," the Flower of East Utah, in her hereditary rights; and
he noticed that these words seemed to find favour among the guards,
though no reply was made to the remark.

Grenville next endeavoured to find out if the community had some
concealed way out of their secret territory. This end he attained by
chaffing them about knocking down with their own hands their only ladder
of communication with the outside world. The men, however, were
perfectly frank, and at once admitted that they had done so, giving him
likewise details of the work of reconstructing the stairway, which was
to be commenced as soon as the invaders were satisfactorily disposed of.

Asked how they accounted for the continued supply of game, the Mormons
said they could not account for it at all; but their prophets had told
them that the good gifts of Heaven should be thankfully accepted, and
not refused simply because the eyes of blinded mortals could not detect
the precise manner of their arrival. A very strict inquiry had
nevertheless been made into the matter, and a body of men appointed to
scour the country in every direction, with the view of ascertaining if
there were any other way of ingress into the territory; but after two
months of careful searching the band had returned with the news that
they were absolutely walled in on every side by impenetrable and
inaccessible rocks and mountains.

Grenville was, however, by no means satisfied with this statement, as,
all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, his common-sense told him
that the herds of game must have some way of getting in at certain
seasons of the year or the animals would long ago have been
exterminated. Still, cudgel his brains as he would, no solution of the
difficulty presented itself to him.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.

And now night once more descended upon East Utah, and the prisoner knew
that he had one day less to live. Still, he kept up heart and remained
on the _qui vive_ for any opportunity of escape; and this at last
presented itself, as he had feared a